I took a Dremel Wire Brush
to my gaming miniature to smooth out the
white metal. Squadron Green Putty is used to
fill pits and gouges, and the "SVC '79"
scribed into the belly of my D-7
Battlecruiser. Though the detail can
sometimes be soft or nondescript, I do like
how easy it is to work with white metal when
it comes to tweaking parts into shape.
To protect my miniature
when I first purchased it and put it
together (around 1981), I primed it with
Tamiya XF-66 Light Grey. To my surprise,
some thirty plus years later, the Tamiya
acrylic paint is still adhering and is as
tough at nails. I wonder if the new XF-66
I'm going the use is just as resilient.
Gaps at the
Pylon/Engineering Hull joint still need to
be filled...
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The
two-tone finish is inspired by both Star
Trek: The Animated Series and the original
paint job on the miniature shown in the
classic television series. It is a little
trickier to pull off over a monotone finish,
but I like the end result. It has sort of a
"classic" feel to it.
As I
mentioned above, I didn't follow one rule or
suggestion for painting and finishing my
Klingon D-7 Battlecruiser. I wanted to bring
together my favorite elements from several
different sources to render a classic-style
Klingon Empire starship.
The
base color used for the Boom and undersides
is Model Master Acrylic #4763 Flat Gull
Grey. The topside color is Tamiya XF-66
Light Gray, applied after the lower portions
of the hull and Boom were masked with Tamiya
Masking Tape. When dry, the miniature is
lightly drybrushed with Vallejo #884 Stone
Grey.
I
painted the Warp Engine Radiators and
Impulse Engine Cooling Vanes with a base
coat of Vallejo #864 Natural Steel. I
overcoated this with Tamiya X-23 Clear Blue
enamel paint. When dry, I overcoated this
with a couple of coats of Future acrylic
floor finish to protect the clear enamels
for the later wash to come. The same method
is used for the Reactor Cooling Vanes, using
Tamiya X-27 Clear Red.
The
Engine Exhaust is picked out with Vallejo
#947 Red, 50% diluted with water - more
washing in the detail than painting it in.
The Deflector Depression is done with Tamiya
XF-28 Dark Copper.
The
Warp Engine Cooling Tubes are picked out
with a Prismacolor #PC949 Metallic Silver
Pencil because it is more precise than using
a paintbrush.
The
Shield Grids on top of the Engineering Hull
are Vallejo #70881 Yellow Green, Phasers
& Disruptors are Vallejo #994 Dark Grey
and the little diamond shape on the
Radiators is Model Master #1782 Brass enamel
- also overcoated with Tamiya X-27 Clear Red
to give an orange cast and protected with
Future Floor Finish.
I did
not paint the Impulse Cooling Vanes on the
Boom blue because I envision them only being
"active" when the Boom has separated from
the Engineering Hull in an emergency escape.
The
miniature is then washed with AK Interactive
Dark Brown for Green Vehicles enamel. When
dry, it is overcoated with Polly Scale Satin
to provide a smooth and shiny base for
decaling. When the decaling is done, I
overcoat the whole miniature with Polly
Scale Satin again. The last step is a coat
of Model Master Acryl #4636 Clear Flat,
which leaves a slight shine, but takes the
finish down to an even level.
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